iii
('-
"I "
III"
j il
II
1111111
; dlllll
IIIIII
I1III
i
III
II
~ii IIIIII
r
~
A PRACTICAL GUIDE~
"There are only two or three human storiesJand theygo pn repeating
themselvesasfiercely as if they had never happenedbefore,"
---,-Willa Cather, in 0 Pioneers!
n the long run, one of the most influential books
of the 20th century may tum out to be Joseph
Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
The ideas expressed in Campbell's book are
having a major impact on storytelling. Writers are
becoming more aware of the ageless patterns which Campbell identihes,
and are enriching their work with them.
Inevitab1y Hollywood has caught on to the usefu1ness of Camp-
bell's work. Filmmakers 1ike George Lucas and George Miller ac-
know1edge their debt to Campbell and his influence can be seen in
the fi1ms of Steven Spielberg, John Boorman, Francis Coppo1a, andothers.
It's little wonder that Hollywood is beginning to embrace the
ideas Campbell presents in his books. For the writer, producer, director,
or designer his concepts are a welcome tool kit, stocked with sturdy
instruments idea1 for the craft of storytelling. With these too1s you can
construct a story to meet almost any situation, a story that will be dramatic,
entertaining, and psycho10gically true. With this equipment you can
diagnose the prob1ems of a1most any ai1ing p10t line, and make the
corrections to bring it to its peak of performance.
3
'I"""
THE WRlTER'S JOURNEY - THIRD EOlTION
. ( Christopher Vogler
These tools have stood the test of time. They are older than thePyramids, older than Stonehenge, older than the earliest cavepaintings.
Joseph Campbell's contribution to the tool kit was to gather the
ideas together, recognize them, articulate them, name them, organizethem. He exposed for the hrst time the pattern that lies behind everystoryever told.
TheHerowithaThousandFaasis his statementof the most persistenttheme in oral tradition and recorded literature: the myth of the hero.
In his study of world hero myths. Campbell discovered that they are allbasically the same story, retold endlessly in inhnite variation.
He found that all storytelling, consciously or not, follows the an-cient patterns of myth and that all stories, from the crudest jokes to the
highest flights of literature, can be understood in terms of the Hero'sJourney: the "monomyth" whose principles he lays out in the book.
The pattern of the Hero's Journey is universal, occurring in everyculture, in every time. It is as inhnitely varied as the human race itself and
yet its basic form remains constant. The Hero's Journey is an incrediblytenacious set of elements that springs endlessly from the deepest reachesof the human mind; different in its details for every culture, but funda-mentally the same.
Campbell's thinking runs parallel to that of the Swiss psycholo-gist Carl G. Jung, who wrote about the archetypes: constantly repeatingcharacters or energies which occur in the dreams of all people and the
myths of all cultures. Jung suggested that these archetypes reflect differentaspects of the human mind - that our personalities divide themselvesinto these characters to playout the drama of our lives. He noticed a
strong correspondence between his patients' dream hgures and the com-mon archetypes of mythology. He suggested that both were coming froma deeper source, in the collective unconscious of the human race.
The repeating characters of world myth such as the young hero, thewise old man or woman, the shapeshifter, and the shadowy antagonistare the same as the hgures who appear repeatedly in our dreams and
fantasies. That's why myths and most stories constructed on the mytho-logical model have the ring of psychological truth.
II
III
4
.---
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
Such stories are accurate models of the workings of the human
mind, true maps of the psyche.They are psychologically valid and emo-tionally realistic even when they portray fantastic, impossible, or umealevents.
This accounts for the universal power of such stories. Stories builton the model of the Hero's Journey have an appeal that can ,be felt by
everyone, because they well up from a universal source in the sharedunconscious and reflect universal concerns.
They deal with the child1ikeuniversal questions: Who am I?Wheredid I come from?Where will I go when I die?What is good and what isevil?What must I do about it?What will tomorrow be like?Where did
yesterday go? Is there anybody else out there?The ideas embeddedin mythologyand identihedby Campbell in
TheHerowith a ThousandFaascan be appliedto understandingalmost any
human problem. They are a great key to life as well as a major instrumentfor dealing more effectively with a mass audience.
If you want to understand the ideas behind the Hero's Journey,there's no substitute for actually reading Campbell's work. It's an experi-
ence that has a way of changing people.It's also a good idea to read a lot of myths, but reading Campbell's
work amounts to the same thing since Campbell is a master storyteller
.who delights in illustrating his points with examples from the rich store-house of mythology.
Campbell gives an outline of the Hero's Journey in Chapter 1\1,"The Keys;'of TheHerowith a ThousandFaas.I've taken the liberty ofamending the outline slightly, trying to reflect some of the commonthemes in movies with illustrations drawn from contemporary hlms and
a few classics. You can compare the two outlines and terminology by
examining Table One.
5
)
"'I
1111
lil,
III
III
IIIII'II
THE WRITER'S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EmTIoN
Christopher Vogler
TABLE ONECOMPARISON OF OUTLINES AND TERMINOLOGY
The Writer's Journey
ACT ONE
Ordinary WorldCall to AdventureRefusal of the Call
Meeting with the MentorCrossing the First Threshold
ACTTwo
Tests, Allies, Enemies
Approach to the Inmost CaveOrdeal
Reward
ACT THREE
The Road Back
ResurrectionReturn with the Elixir
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
DEPARTURE, SEPARATION
World of Common DayCall to Adventure
Refusal of the Call
Supernatural AidCrossing the First Threshold
Belly of the Whale
DESCENT, INITIATION, PENETRATION
Road of Trials
Meeting with the Goddess
Woman as TemptressAtonement with the Father
ApotheosisThe Ultimate Boon
RETURN
Refusal of the Return
The Magic FlightRescue from Within
Crossing the ThresholdReturn
Master of the Two WorldsFreedom to Live
6
L
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
rm retelling the hero myth in my own way, and you should feel free
to do the same. Every storyteller bends the mythic pattern to his or her
own purpose or the needs of a particular culture.That's why the hero has a thousand faces.A note about the term "hero": As used here, the word, like
"doctor" or "poet," may refer to a woman or a man.
'.",.
III
'~
.
, jI,
"
"I
II'I
IIil
THE HERO'S JOURNEY
At heart, despite its infinite variety, the hero's story is always a journey. A
hero leaves her comfortable, ordinary surroundings to venture into a cl),al-
lenging, unfamiliar world. It may be an outward journey to an actual place: a
labyrinth, forest or cave, a strange city or country, a new locale that becomes
the arena for her conflict with antagonistic, challenging forces.
But there are as many stories that take the hero on an inward
journey, one of the mind, the heart, the spirit. In any good story the hero
grows and changes, making a journey from one way of being to the next:
from despair to hope, weakness to, strength, folly to wisdom, love to hate,
and back again. It's these emotional journeys that hook an audience and
make a story worth watching.
The stages of the Hero's Journey can be traced in all kinds of
stories, not just those that feature "heroic" physical action and adventure.
The protagonist of every story is the hero of a journey, even if the path
leads only into his own mind or into the realm of relationships.
The way stations of the Hero's Journey emerge naturally even when
the writer is unaware of them, but some knowledge of this most ancient
guide to storytelling is useful in identifying problems and telling better
stories. Consider these twelve stages as a map of the Hero's Journey, one
of many ways to get from here to there, but one of the most flexible,
durable and dependable.
'I,I
'II'. IIII''I
Iil
iiiiii
"
7
"
III!'
I,II
'IIIIII
THE WRITER'S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EmTION
Christopher Vogler
THE STAGES OF THE HERO'S JOURNEY
iii
I. ORDINARY WORLD
2. CALL TO AOVENTURE
3. REFUSAL OF THE CALL
4. MEETING WITH THE MENTOR
5. CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
6. TESTS, ALLIES, ENEMIES
7. ApPROACH TO THE INMOST CAVE
8. ORDEAL
9. REWARO (SEIZING THE SWORO)
10. THE ROAO BACK
I I. RESURRECTION
12. RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR
I
III
IIIII
1'111
THE HERO'S JOURNEY MODEL
1111111111111111,
11111111 ...,
i
. '"'~ ,,-eJs!""''/)y <$'" o~
1::1:> ~,"v",", '"'G &'1:> ~'"' \-~~4<° '-4'"' e ~ ~. '"'~' ,"°
"'"'" 0'" ,,'" ."-,, ~'<$'~<:\ ,"° ~~ ,"0" "-,,,'~ ~ o~(; ~
0"'0: G~ ~~ ~'"'~ «-""'~ "-'"'~~' "'"~ 0"'1:>'"'
11',1111111
: III11
III)111
illl
ACTI ACT II
III
Approx. 30 screenplay pages 60 screenplay pages
IIII
1
Iiiiii
Crisis Climax
ACT III
30 screenpky pages
g
r A PRACTICAL GUIDE
THE HERO'S JOURNEY
ACT IIIRETURN
12. Return with Elixir
(Denouement)
ACTISEPARATION
2. Call to Adventure
(Inciting incident)I 1. Resurrection
(Climax)
10. The RoadBack
ACT II BINITIATION
8. Central Ordeal
(Midpoint, Death, and Rebirth)
3. Re/:Usal of the Call
4. Meeting withthe Mentor
s. Crossingthe Threshold
6. Tests, Allies,Enemies
7. Approach
ACT II ADESCENT
II!
I
I
I
II"
THE WRITER'S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EDITION
Christopher Vagler
L THE ÜRDINARY WORLD
iill
Most stories take the hero out of the ordinary, mundane world and into
a Special World, newand alien. This is the familiar "fish out of water"idea which has spawned countless films and TV shows ("The Fugitive,"
'The BeverlyHillbillies;' Mr.SmithGoesto VVashington,A ConnertieutYankeein
King Arthur's Court, The Wizard rf Oz, Witness,48 Hours, TmdingPlaces,Bever/y
Hilis Cop, etc.).
If you're going to show a fish out of his customary element, you
first have to show him in that Ordinary World to create a vivid contrast
with the strange new world he is about to enter.
In Witnessyou see both the city policeman and the Amish mother
and son in their normal worlds before they are thrust into totally alien
environments: the Amish being overwhelmed by the city, and the city cop
encountering the 19th-century world of the Amish. You first see Luke
Skywalker, hero of Star VVars,being bored to death as a farmboy before hesets out to tackle the universe.
Likewise in The Wizard rf Oz, considerable time is spent to
establish Dorothy's drab normal life in Kansas before she is blown to
the wonderworld of Oz. Here the contrast is heightened by shooting theKansas scenes in stern black and white while the Oz scenes are shot in
vibrant Technicolor.
An Offieer and a Gentlemansketches a vivid contrast between the
Ordinary World of the hero - that of a tough Navy brat with a drunken,
whore-chasingfather - and the SpecialWorld of the spit-and-polish N avy
flight school which the hero enters.
,I
lilli!iii
II1111II
"II,II
II,IIII
;11;
III:II
I
2. THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
iii
The hero is presented with a problem, challenge, or adventure to
undertake. Once presented with a Call to Adventure, she can no longer
remain indefinitely in the comfort of the Ordinary World.
Perhaps the land is dying, as in the King Arthur stories of the
search for the Grail, the only treasure that can heal the wounded land. InStar VVars,the Call to Adventure is Princess Leia's desperate holographic
message to wise old Obi Wan Kenobi, who asks Luke to join in the quest.
Leia has been snatched by evil Darth Vader, like the Greek springtime
goddess Persephone, who was kidnapped to the underworld by Pluto,
r A PRACTICAL GUIDE
lord of the dead. Her rescue is vital to restoring the normal balance ofthe universe.
In many detective stories, the Call to Adventure is the private eye being
asked to take on a new case and solve a crime which has upset the order of
things. A good detective should right wrongs as well as solve crimes.
In revenge plots, the Call to Adventure is often a wrong which must
be set right, an offense against the naturalorder of things. In The Count
rf Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes is unjustly imprisoned and is driven to
escape by his desire for revenge. The plot of Bever/y Hilis Cop is set in
motion by the murder of the hero's best friend. In First Blood Rambo is
motivated by his unfair treatment at the hands of an intolerant sheriff.
In romantic comedies, the Call to Adventure might be the first
encounter with the special but annoying someone the hero or heroine
will be pursuing and sparring with.
The Call to Adventure establishes the stakes of the game, and makes
clear the hero's goal: to win the treasure or the lover, to get revenge or right
a wrong, to achieve a dream, confront a challenge, or change a life.
What's at stake can often be expressed as a question posed by the
call. Will E.T: or Dorothy in The Wizard rf Oz get home again? Will Luke
rescue Princess Leia and defeat Darth Vader? In An Officeranda Gentleman,
will the hero be driven out of Navy flight school by his own selfishness
and the needling of a fierce Marine drill instructor, or will he earn the
right to be called an officer and a gentleman? Boy meets girl, but does boyget girl?
3. REFUSALOF THE CALL(THE REWCTANT HERO)
This one is about fear. Often at this point the hero balks at the threshold
of adventure, Refusing the Call or expressing reluctance. After all, she isfacing the greatest of all fears, terror of the unknown. The hero has not
yet fully committed to the journeyand may still be thinking of turning
back. Some other influence - a change in circumstances, a futther offense
against the natural order of things, or the encouragement of a Mentor
- is required to get her past this turning point of fear.
In romantic comedies, the hero mayexpress reluctance to get
involved (maybe because of the pain of a previous relationship). In a
detective story, the private eye may at first turn down the case, only totake it on later against his better judgment.
II
THE WRITER'S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EmTIaN
Christopher Vogler
II
II
II
I
At this point in Star Ttars,Luke refuses Obi Wan's Call to Adventure
and returns to his aunt and uncle's farmhouse, only to find they have been
barbecued by the Emperor's stormtroopers. Suddenly Luke is no longer
reluctant and is eager to undertake the quest. The evil of the Empire has
become personal to him. He is motivated.
HIIII!li
4. MENToR (THEWISE Ow MAN ORWOMAN)
By this time many stories will have introduced a Merlin-like character
who is the hero's Mentor; The relationship between hero and Mentor is
one of the most common themes in mythology, and. one of the richest
in its symbolic value. It stands for the bond between parent and child,
teacher and student, doctor and patient, god and man.
The Mentor may appear as a wise old wizard (Star Ttars), a tough
drill sergeant (An Offiar and a Gentieman), or a grizzled old boxing coach
(Rocky). In the mythology of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", it was Lou
Grant. In Jaws it's the crusty Robert Shaw character who knows all aboutsharks.
The function of Mentors is to prepare the hero to face the unknown.
They may give advice, guidance or magical equipment. Obi Wan in Star
Ttars gives Luke his father's light-saber, which he will need in his batdes
with the dark side of the Force. In The VVizard?f Oz, Glinda the Good
Witch gives Dorothy guidance and the ruby slippers that will eventually
get her home again.
However, the Mentor can only go so far with the hero. Eventually the
hero must face the unknown alone. Sometimes the Mentor is required to
give the hero a swift kick in the pants to get the adventure going.
II',I
lilliI II
III
, i!1
'! III
IIIil
II;;;'"
I,I
5. CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
Now the hero flnally commits to the adventure and fully enters the Special
World of the story for the flrst time by Crossing the First Threshold. He
agrees to face the consequences of dealing with the problem or challenge
posed in the Call to Adventure. This is the moment when the story takes
off and the adventure really gets going. The balloon goes up, the ship
sails, the romance begins, the plane or the spaceship soars off, the wagon
train gets rolling.
1111
111('
II III~I'
T'
r III
I
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
Movies are often built in three acts, which can be regarded as
representing I) the hero's decision to act, 2) the action itself, and 3) the
consequences of the action. The First Threshold marks the turning point
between Acts One and Two. The hero, having overcome fear, has decided
to confront the problem and take action. She is now committed to the
journeyand there's no turning back.
This is the moment when Dorothy sets out on the Yellow Brick
Road. The hero of Beverly Hilis Cop, Axel Foley, decides to defy his boss's
order, leaving his Ordinary World of the Detroit streets to investigate his
friend's murder in the Special World of Beverly HilIs.
6. TEsTs, ALLIES, AND ENEMIES il
Once across the First Threshold, the hero naturally encounters new
challenges and Tests, makes Allies and Enemies, and begins to learn the
rules of the Special World.
Saloons and seedy bars seem to be good places for these transactions.Coundess Westerns take the hero to a saloon where his manhood and
determinatian are tested, and where friends and villains are introduced. Bars
are also useful to the hero for obtaining information, for learning the new
rules that apply to the Special World.
In Casablanca,Rick's Cafe is the den of intrigue in which alliances and
enmities are forged, and in which the hero's moral character is constandy
tested. In Star Ttars, the cantina is the setting for the creation of a major
alliance with Han Sala and the making of an important enmity with
Jabba the Hutt, which pays off two movies later in Return ?f theJedi. Here
in the giddy, surreal, violent atmosphere of the cantina swarming with
bizarre aliens, Luke also gets a taste of the exciting and dangerous SpecialWorld he has just entered.
Scenes like these allow for character development as we watch the
hero and his companions react under stress. In the Star Ttarscantina, Luke
gets to see Han Solo's way of handling a tight situatian, and learns that
Obi Wan is a warrior wizard of great power.
There are similar sequences in An Offiar and a Gentleman at about
this point, in which the hero makes allies and enemies and meets his
"Iave interest:' Several aspects of the hero's character - aggressiveness
and hostility, knowledge of street flghting, attitudes about women - are
;~
ilul
,
THE WRITER'S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EDITION
Christopher Vogler
iii
revealed under pressure in these scenes, and sure enough, one of themtakes place in a bar.
Of course not aUTests, AUiances, and Enmities are confronted in
bars. In many stories, such as TheWizardif Oz, these are simply encounters
on the road. At this stage on the YeUowBrick Road, Dorothy acquiresher companions the Scarecrow,Tin Woodsman and Cowardly Lion, and
makes enemies such as an orchard fuUof grumpy talking trees. She passesa number of Tests such a3 getting Scarecrow off the nail, oiling the TinWoodsman, and heIping the Cowardly Lion deal with his fear.
In Star T1Iarsthe Tests continue after the cantina scene. Obi Wan
teaches Luke about the Force by making him fight blindfolded. Theearly laser batdes with the Imperial fighters are another Test which LukesuccessfUUy passes.
IIIi II
II
-IUII
II
IIII 7. ApPROACH TO THE INMOST CAVE
1,11
The hero comes at last to the edge of a dangerous place, sometimes
deep underground, where the object of the quest is hidden. Often it's
the headquarters of the hero's greatest enerny, the most dangerous spotin the Special World, the Inmost Cave. When the hero enters that fearful
place he wiU cross the second major threshold. Heroes often pause at the
gate to prepare, plan, and outwit the viUain's guards. This is the phase ofApproach.
In mythology the Inmost Cave may represent the land of the dead.
The hero may have to descend into heU to rescue a loved one (Orpheus),
into a cave to fight a dragon and win a treasure (Sigurd in Norse my th),
or into a labyrinth to confront a monster (Theseus and the Minotaur).
In the Arthurian stories the Inmost Cave is the ChapeI Perilous, the
dangerous chamber where the seeker may find the Grai1.
In the modem mythology of Star T1Iarsthe Approach to the Inmost
Cave is Luke Skywalker and company being sucked into the Death Starwhere they wiU face Darth Vader and rescue Princess Leia. In The Wizard
of Oz it's Dorothy being kidnapped to the Wicked Witch's balefUI casde,
and her companions slipping in to save her. The tide of IndianaJonesand theTemple if Doom reveals the Inmost Cave of that film.
Approach covers aU the preparations for entering the Inmost Caveand confronting death or supreme danger.
III
III
II
1111
1111"
H'
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
8. THE ORDEAL
Here the fortunes of the hero hit bottom in a direct confrontation with his
greatest fear. He faces the possibility of death and is brought to the brinkin a battle with a hostile force. The Ordeal is a "black moment" for the
audience, as we are heId in suspense and tension, not knowing if he wiUlive
or die.The hero, like Jonah, is "in the beUyof the beast."In Star T1Iarsit's the harrowing moment in the boweIs of the Death
Star when Luke, Leia, and companyare trapped in the giant trashmasher.
Luke is puUed under by the tentacled monster that lives in the sewageandis heId down so long that the audience begins to wonder if he's dead. In
E.T, the lovable alien momentarily appears to die on the operating table.In TheWizardif Oz Dorothy and her friends are trapped by the Wicked
Witch, and it looks like there's no way out. At this point in Bever/yHilis
CopAxeI Foley is in the clutches of the viUain'smen with a gun to hishead.
In An Offieeranda Centleman,Zack Mayo endures an Ordeal when hisMarine driUinstructor launches an aU-out drive to torment and humiliate
him into quitting the program. It's a psychologicallife-or-death moment,for if he gives in, his chances of becoming an officer and a gendeman
wiUbe dead. He survives the Ordeal by refusing to quit, and the Ordealchanges him. The dri1l sergeant, a foxyWise Old Man, has forced him to
admit his dependency on others, and from this moment on he is morecooperative and less seIfish.
In romantic comedies the death faced by the hero may simply be the
temporary death of the reIationship, as in the second movement of theold standard plot, "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets gir1."The hero'schances of connecting with the object of affection look their bleakest.
This is a critical moment in any story, an Ordeal in which the heromust die or appear to die so that she can be bom again. It's a major source
of the magic of the heroic myth. The experiences of the preceding stageshave led us, the audience, to identify with the hero and her fate. What
happens to the hero happens to us. We are encouraged to experiencethe brink-of-death moment with her. Our emotions are temporarilydepressed so that they can be revived by the hero's return from death.The result of this revival is a feeIing of eIation and exhilaration.
'Ii
III!
THE WRITER'S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EmTION
Christopher Vogler
II
II! 11
Ii"
I".::111
The designers of amusement park thriIl rides know how to use this
principle. RoIler coasters make their passengers feel as if they're going to
die, and there's a great thriIl that comes from brushing up against death
and surviving it. You're never more alive than when you're looking deathin the face.
This is also the keyelement in rites of passage or rituals of initiationinto fraternities and secret societies. The initiate is forced to taste death in
some terrible experience, and then is aIlowed to experience resurrection as
he is reborn as a new member of the group. The hero of every story is an
initiate being introduced to the mysteries of life and death.
Every story needs such a life-or-death moment in which the hero or
his goals are in mortal jeopardy.
II"
III!II
9. REWARD (SEIZING THE SWORO)
Having survived death, beaten the dragon, or slain the Minotaur, hero and
audience have cause to celebrate. The hero now takes possession of the
treasure she has come seeking, her Reward. It might be a special weapon
like a magic sword, or a token like the Grail or some elixir which can healthe wounded land.
So me times the" sword" is knowledge and experience that leads to
greater understanding and a reconciliation with hostile forces.
In Star VVars, Luke rescues Princess Leia and captures the plans of
the Oeath Star, keys to defeating Oarth Vader.
Oorothy escapes from the Wicked Witch's castle with the Witch's
broomstick and the ruby slippers, keys to getting back home.
At this point the hero may also settle a conflict with a parent. In
Return 0/theJedi, Luke is reconciled with Oarth Vader, who turns out to be
his father and not such a bad guy after all.
The hero may also be reconciled with the opposite sex, as in
romantic comedies. In many stories the loved one is the treasure the hero
has come to win or rescue, and there is often a love scene at this point to
celebrate the victory.
From the hero's point of view, members of the opposite sex
may appear to be Shapeshifters, an archetype of change. They seem to
shift constandy in form or age, refIecting the confusing and constantly
Iii
1II11I
11
'II
1!!l11
'"111111III
IIII
Th
A PRACTrCAL GUIDE
changing aspects of the opposite sex. Tales of vampires, werewolves and
other shapechangers are symbolic echoes of this shifting quality whichmen and women see in each other.
The hero's Ordeal may grant a better understanding of the opposite
sex, an ability to see beyond the shifting outer appearance, leading to areconciliation.
The hero may also become more attractive as a result of having
survived the Ordeal. He has earned the title of "hero" by having taken the
supreme risk on behalf of the community.
10. THE ROAO BACK
The hero's not out of the woods yet. We're crossing into Act Three now
as the hero begins to deal with the consequences of confronting the dark
forces of the Ordeal. If she has not yet managed to reconcile with the
parent, the gods, or the hostile forces, they may come raging after her.
Some of the best chase scenes spring up at this point, as the hero is
pursued on The Road Baek by the vengeful forces she has disturbed bySeizing the sword, the elixir, or the treasure.
Thus Luke and Leia are furiously pursued by Oarth Vader as they
escape the Oeath Star. The Road Baek in E.T is the moonlight bicycle
fIight of EIliott and E. T. as theyescape from "Keys" (Peter Coyote ), who
represents repressive governmental authority.
This stage marks the decision to return to the Ordinary World. The
hero realizes that the Special World must eventuaIly be left behind, andthere are stiIl dangers, temptations, and tests ahead.
I I. RESURRECTION
In ancient times, hunters and warriors had to be purified before theyreturned to their communities, because they had blood on their hands.The hero who has been to the realm of the dead must be reborn and
cleansed in one last Ordeal of death and Resurreetiou before returningto the Ordinary World of the living.
This is often a second life-and-death moment, almost areplay of
the death and rebirth of the Ordeal. Death and darkness get in one last,desperate shot before being finally defeated. It's a kind of final exam for
I!
~ "
I,
ITHE WRITER'S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EmTIaN
Christopher VoglerII
II II
II
II11'"
III
II/II
the hero, who must be tested once more to see if he has really learned the
lessons of the Ordeal.
The hero is transformed by these moments of death-and-rebirth,
and is able to return to ordinary life reborn as a new being with new
insights.
The Star Wars films play with this element constantly. The films of
the" original trilogy" feature a final battle scene in which Luke is almost
killed, appears to be dead for a moment, and then miraculously survives.
Each Ordeal wins him new knowledge and command over the Foree. He
is transformed into a new being by his experience.
Axel Foley in the climactic sequence of BeverlyHilis Coponce againfaces death at the hands of the villain, but is rescued by the intervention
of the Beverly HilIs police foree. He emerges from the experience with a
greater respeet for cooperation, and is a more complete human being.
An OJficerand a Gentleman offers a more complex series of final
ordeals, as the hero faces death in a number of ways. Zack's selfishness
dies as he gives up the chanee for a personal athletic trophy in favor of
helping another cadet over an obstacle. His relationship with his girlfriendseems to be dead, and he must survive the crushing blow of his best
friend's suicide. As if that werent enough, he also endures a final hand-to-
hand, life~or-death battle with his drill instructor, but survives it all and
is transformed into the gallant "officer and gentleman" of the title.
I1II
~ II
~ " II
:: II1
II
I11
III
III, II
IIII
12. RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR
The hero Returns to the Ordinary World, but the journey is meaningless
unless she brings back some Elixir, treasure, or lesson from the Special
World. The Elixir is a magic potion with the power to heal. It may be a
great treasure like the Grail that magically heals the wounded Iand, or
it simply might be knowledge or experience that could be useful to the
community someday.
Dorothy returns to Kansas with the knowledge that she is loved, and
that "There's no place like home:' E.T. returns home with the experience
of friendship with humans. Luke Skywalker defeats Darth Vader (for the
time being) and restores peace and order to the galaxy.
Zack Mayo wins his commission and leaves the Special World of
the training base with a new perspective. In the sparkling new uniform of
11111II
} III I~ II
i III
A PRAcnCAl GUIDE
an officer (with a new attitude to match) he literally sweeps his girlfriend
off her feet and carries her away.
Sometimes the Elixir is treasure won on the quest, but it may be
love, freedom, wisdom, or the knowledge that the Special World exists
and can be survived. Sometimes it's just coming home with a good storyto tell.
Unless something is brought back from the Ordeal in the Inmost
Cave, the hero is doomed to repeat the adventure. Many comedies use this
ending, as a foolish character refuses to learn his lesson and embarks on
the same folly that got him in trouble in the first place.
To RECAPTHE HERO'S JOURNEY:
I. Heroes are introduced in the ORDINARYWORLD, where
2. they receivethe CALL TO ADVENTURE.3.They are RELUCTANT at first or REFUSE THE CALL, but
4. are encouraged by a MENTOR to
S. CROSSTHE FIRSTTHRESHOLD and enter the SpecialWorld, where
6. they encounter TESTS, ALLIES, AND ENEMIES.
7. They APPROACH THE INMOST CAVE, crossing a secondthreshold
8. where they endure the ORDEAL.9. They take possession of their REW ARO and
10. are pursued on THE ROAD BACK to the Ordinary.World.I I. They cross the third threshold, experience a
RESURRECTION, and are transformed by the experience.12. They RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR, a boon or treasure to
benefit the Ordinary World.
~
The Hero's Journey is askeletal framework that should be fleshed out
with the details and surprises of the individual story. The structure should
not call attention to itself, nor should it be followed too precisely. The
order of the stages given here is onlyone of many possible variations. The
III",
"I II
II
" IIII 1I''
II"
III
III
1111
1111
II''
111111, II'
III
~, III
THE WRITER'S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EmTIaN
Christopher Vogler
stages can be deleted, added to, and drastically shuffled without losingany of their power.
The values of the Hero's Journeyare what's important. The images
of .the basic version - young heroes seeking magic swords from oldwizards, maidens risking death to save loved ones, knights riding off tonght evil dragons in deep caves,and so on - are just symbols of universallife experiences.The symbols can be changed innnitely to suit the story athand and the needs of the society.
The Hero's Journey is easily translated to contemporary dramas,comedies, romanees, or action-adventures by substituting modern
equivalents for the symbolic ngures and props of the hero's story. Thewise old man or woman may be a real shaman or wizard, but may also be
any kind of Mentor or teacher, doctor or therapist, "crusty but benign"boss, tough but fair top sergeant, parent, grandparent, or guiding, helpingngure.
Modern heroes may not be going into caves and labyrinths to nghtmythical beasts, but they do enter a Special World and an 1nmost Cave
by venturing into space, to the bottom of the sea, into the depths of amodern city, or into their own hearts.
The patterns of myth canbe used to teIl the simplest comic book story
or the most sophisticated drama.The Hero's Journey grows and matures asnew experiments are tried within its framework. Changing the traditionalsex and relativeages of the archetypes only makes it more interesting, and
allows evermore complex webs of understanding to be spun among them.The basic ngures can be combined, or each can be divided into severalcharacters to show different aspects of the same idea.
The Hero's Journey is innnitely flexible,capable of endless variationwithout sacrincing any of its magic, and it will outlive us all.
Now that we've looked over the map, let's meet the characters whopopulate the landscape of storytelling: the Archetypes.
Ii"
III,
IIil!
IIII
III
L, "II
THE ARCHETYPES~
"Summoned or not, thegod will {ome."
- Motto over the door of Carl Jung's house
s soon as you enter the world of fairy tales and
myths, you become aware of recurring character
types and relationships: questing heroes, heraldswho call them to adventure, wise old men and
women who give them magical gifts, threshold
guardians who seem to bloek their way, shapeshift-
ing fellow travelers who confuse and dazzle them, shadowy villains who
try to destroy them, trieksters who upset the status quo and provide comic
relief. In describing these common character types, symbols, and rela-
tionships the Swiss psychologist Carl G. Jung employed the term arche-
types, meaning ancient patterns of personality that are the shared heritageof the human race.
Jung suggested there may be a collective unconscious, similar to
the personal unconscious. Fairy tales and myths are like the dreams of an
entire Culture, springing from the collective unconscious. The same char-
acter types seem to occur on both the personal and the collective scale.
The archetypes are amazingly constant throughout all times and cultures,
~n the dreams and personalities of individuals as well as in the mythictmagination of the entire world. An understanding of these forces is one
of the most powerful elements in the modem storyteller's bag of trieks.
;1,
THE WRITER'S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EmTIaN
ChristopherVog/er
The concept of archetypes is an indispensable tool for under-
standing the purpose or function of characters in a story. lf you grasp
the function of the archetype which a particular character is expressing,
it can help you determine if the character is pulling her full weight in the
story. The archetypes are part of the universallanguage of storytelling,
and a command of their energy is as essential to the writer as breathing.
Joseph Campbell spoke of the archetypes as biological: as expres-
sions of the organs of the body, built into the wiring of every human
being. The universality of these patterns makes possible the shared ex-
perience of storytelling. Storytellers instinctively choose characters and
relationships that resonate to the energy of the archetypes, to create
dramatic experiences that are recognizable to everyone. Becoming aware
of the archetypes can only expand your command of your craft.
ARCHETYPES AS FUNCTlONS
When I first began working with these ideas I thought of an archetype as
a fixed role which a character would play exelusively throughout a story.
Once I identified a character as a mentor, I expected her to remain a men-
tor and only a mentor. However, as I worked with fairy tale motifs as a
story consultant for Disney Animation, I encountered another way of
100king at the archetypes - not as rigid character roles but as functions
performed temporarily by characters to achieve certain effects in a story.This observation comes from the work of the Russian fairy tale expert
Vladimir Propp, whose book, Morphologyof theFolktale,analyzes motifs and
recurrent patterns in hundreds of Russian tales.
Looking at the archetypes in this way, as flexible character functions
rather than as rigid character types, can liberate your storytelling. It explains
how a character in a story can manifest the qualities of more than one ar-
chetype. The archetypes can be thought of as masks, wom by the characters
temporarily as they are needed to advance the story. A character might enter
the story performing the function of a herald, then switch masks to func-tion as a trickster, a mentor, and a shadow.
FACETS OF THE HERO'S PERSONALITY
Another way to look at the elassic archetypes is that they are facets of
the hero's (ot the writer's) personality. The other characters represent
74-
r THE ARCHETYPES
possibilities for the hero, for good or ill. A hero sometimes proceeds
through the story gathering and incorporating the energy and traits of
the other characters. She Ieams from the other characters, fusing them
into a complete human being who has picked up something from every-one she has met along the way.
THE ARCHETYPES AS EMANATIONS OF THE HERO
",
I
IIIiiIII
111111
"'111'
11111
I1II
11111,"
II
II""""I,I
III
II!II,II1111111111"11",
III
IIII
Illi
11111"Ii
IIIIII II
1111111'11
'1 1[11
I I II.
II
THE WRITER'S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EDITION
Christopher fiOgler
I!I!
The arehetypes ean also be regarded as personined symbols of vari-ous human qualities. Like the major areana eards of the Tarot, they stand
for the aspeets of a eomplete human personality. Every good story re-tleets the total human story, the universal human eondition of being borninto this world, growing, learning, struggling to become an individual, and
dying. Stories ean be read as metaphors for the general human situation,
with eharaeters who embody universal, arehetypal qualities, eomprehensi-ble to the group as well as the individual.
THE MOST COMMON AND USEFUL ARCHETYPES
For the storyteller, eertain eharaeter arehetypes are indispensable tools of
the trade. You ean't tell stories without them. The arehetypes that oeeur
most frequently in stories, and that seem to be the most useful for thewriter to understand, are:
HERO
MENTOR (Wise Old Man or Woman)THRESHOLD GUARDIANHERALD
SHAPESHIFTERSHADOW
ALLY
TRICKSTER
III
There are, of eourse, many more archetypes; as manyas there are
human qualities to dramatize in stories. Fairy tales are erowded with ar-
ehetypal ngures:' the Wolf, the Hunter, the Good Mother, the Wieked
Stepmother, the Fairy Godmother, the Witeh, the Prinee or Prineess, the
Greedy Innkeeper, and so forth, who perform highly speeialized fune-
tions. Jung and others have identined many psyehologieal arehetypes,
such as the Puer Aeternus or eternal boy, who ean be found in myths as the
ever-youthful Cupid, in stories as eharaeters such as Peter Pan, and in life
as men who never want to grow up.
Particular genres of modern stories have their speeialized eharaeter
types, such as the "Whore with the Heart of Gold" or the "Arrogant West
Point Lieutenant" in Westerns, the "Good Cop/Bad Cop" pairing in bud-
dy pictures, or the "Tough but Fair Sergeant" in war movies.
III
!I! "
" 1III II:
26
THE ARCHETYPES
However, these are only variants and rennements of the archetypesdiscussed in the following chapters.The archetypes we will discuss are themost basie patterns, from whieh all others are shaped to nt the needs ofspeeine stories and genres.
Two questions are helpful for a writer trying to identity the nature
of an arehetype: I) What psyehologieal function or part of the person-
ality does it represent? and 2) What is its dramatie function in a story?Keep these questions in mind as we look at eight of the basie
arehetypes, the people or energies we are likely to meet on the Hero'sJourney.
27